New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1887-06-19
TWO AMERICAN NOVELS.
TRUE STORIES OF THE SOIL.

l2no pp $50. Houghton. Mifnin q Co
BEBIND THE BLUE RIDGE. A Homely Narratiys
Nv FRANCIS CoURrENAY BAYLOR 12mo. PIP. 3ls
Philadelphia: ]. B. Lppincott Company
1t is not often that new writer Is introduced u
the public by so good piece of work as Jury
the Meanest Man in Spring County MI. hlrk'an'
has given us q real American novel; story reco
lent Of the soil faithful to most interesting and i'm
portant National types and full of the most careful
observation and the shrewdest characterization
It's novel of Western life In the truest sense M
ono has better described kind Of existence which
however monotonous. rude and arduous. contains
abundance of material for the observer whose eye
and mind are open. and who percelves the broad
relationship between the pioneer virtues ana de-
fects and the civilization which springs rom
these influences The story opens with the
taking and opening up OF virgin tract
in Illinois by a Pennsylvania family which
has painfully travelled to the new To-
cation in the primitive ox-wagon From the
beginning the author exhibits an intimate know
ledge Of pioneer Western life. All the tolls and
struggles of the new settlers are related with
Photographic fulness The sickness and death OF
the delic ate youngest child sacrificed to the ex-
igences Of that comfortless existence the shifts
to which the family are put to keep the land they
have taken up; the ceaseless. grinding toll winch
is the price of success; and best OF all. the effect
of this almost incessant struggle with the elements
in moulding the character of the hero Jury; all is
set forth with vividness and faithfulness
to facts worthy OF the highest praise.
Zury, the eldest son Of the Prouder family, Is
genuine creation, living character and no lay
figure Strong Of mind and body. indomitable,
persistent this young man pits himself squarelv
against nature and his environment and conquers
O position by labors which may seem to the city
dwelIer almost incredible yet have been the bitter
experience of countless Americans in like circnm-
stances In the concentration of purpose necessary
10 his plan, however. Zury becomes hardened.
narrow aud grasping He has learned so thorough
ly the misery of poverty that he defends himself
against it with an energy which becomes trans
lated into greed. Bending all the vigor OF his
strong character to money making, he gathers
riches but in the process he the nickname OF
s'the mcanest man in Spring County," and he de-
serves il, too. Not that in his meanness there is
ANYTHING underhanded. tricky or false He
always sets out to get the best Of everv bargain
contract or agreement, aud because he is shrewder
than his negbbors he generally succeeds. But he
aims to be Just; his word is relied Behind all
his accrued selfshness and hardness there is
plainly TO be perceived fund of
integrity and conscientiousness which will bring
him ont of his repulsive crust If the right
influences are applied. Anne Sparrow. a bright
young Boston girl, who after experimenting In
various new religious and social cults comesout to
ayback, Spring County, to see If she can obtain
the leadership of the district school, is the
destined instrument of Zury's REIMBURSEMENT.
Her advent Is the occasion for some capital pct-
ures The crucial test of the new teachers ability
TO hold her own among her unruly scholars is one
Of these The Board of Trustees the boys and girls,
the Western ways. all are done to the life. The
dialect too is a remarkable achievement, for the
ha nh nf hot
quaint speech, but he has saturated 1t with the
peculiar Western spirit the combination of keen wit
and fondness for extravagant imagery which seems
TO have been breathed in with the air of the praires
Zury's talk is full of character and Western char
acter too. There is no ing his locality. His
speech is racy with queer saws and philosophic
reflections. clothed in the picturesque slang of the
region. But 1t must not be thought that special |
care has been besto wed upon the hero to the neg
lect of Others The same faithfulness and fulness
of representation is observable throughout. The
interior scenes with their keen yet kindly analysis
Of the pioneer Western household economy. are
admirable Nothing is forgotten: the drudgery OF
the women, the KNITTING holes" made in the log
cabins to let light in upon the needles the prevail
ing belief in strong" medicine-a trait found In
other than Western settements-the absence of all
care for beauty of form color, of all regard for
comfort even, the LONELINESS even to downright !
ugness and sordidness of the everyday life /
every thing is there.
Hardly phase of pioneer life fails of appropri-
ate illustration at Mr.. Kirkland's hands. The |
tendency toward religious bigory. the narrowness,
jealousy boorIshness, the independence. industry,
warm hospitality and old-fashioned conservatism |
favored with equally Old-fashioned superstition
are exhibited IN appropriate incidents. dialogues !
and bits of description which throw clear light |
upon the point set in relief. The book is marked
by keen and unfailing insight and also by the play
of critical faculty so warmed by genuine affection
for the people analysed that even their worst
fobes are softened by the charity of the portrayal
here is humor in the story also, and OF delicate
kind Many Of the sharper touches are given in
gentle little remarks which have the air of lndi- |
rection at the first glance. The odd and amusing |
aspects of Western pioneer thought and habit are
sh swn with out commentary or indication. They |
come upon the reader all the more strikingly and |
remain all the longer in his memory. Every one
how often President Lincoln used to be |
''reminded of a story" 1t is O Western way. and !
we are tempted to give Just one illustration from
- ZuryD He is talking to an old preacher, who |
writes very dull sermons, and who remarks, Pos
IDLY if Providence had seen fit to vouchsafe me !
wider field to CLEAN from, / might have more |
sheaves to show-more sheaves to show-but !
never can find time to stray away from my narrow |
sphere of labor" To which Zury replies: Wal. |
naow. that reminds me of the boy they tell on
teller come aong'n see him whalin' away at a
stick of wood with an axe duern hoe; m the
teller he asked him why he didn't go N grind his
lxe N the boy, seq he, 'ef yew had such pile %
wood cuts that guess yo wouldn't be monkey
m 'raound a-grindin' no axes" Zurys converse
ion and that of many other people in this book
,bounds with quaint full-havored Westernlsms Of
his sort.
Anne Sparrow is not so well and thoroughly COM
,acted character as Zury, probably because it is
given to few men to have true insight into woman.
But she is very real person. with strong lntelli-
yence feminine weaknesses. plenty of attractive